The Max Fried lesson that transformed Clarke Schmidt’s Yankees approach: ‘I’ve been doing it all wrong’

For much of his career, Clarke Schmidt has been able to out-stuff hitters.

The Yankees right-hander has long been known for his elite breaking pitches. And then when he added a cutter heading into his first full season as a big league starter, it graded out as a quality pitch, and he threw it almost ad nauseum.

And yet, Schmidt has been thriving lately by leaning into the art of pitching and using his entire arsenal instead of just leaning so heavily on his best pitches.

Turns out, Max Fried has helped the Yankees in other ways than just his 10 wins and 1.92 ERA.